This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention recited in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
It is well known to provide a temperature controlled display device such as a refrigerator, freezer, refrigerated merchandiser, refrigerated display case, etc., that may be used in commercial, institutional, and residential applications for storing or displaying refrigerated or frozen objects. For example, it is known to provide full-service type refrigerated display cases for displaying fresh food products such as beef, pork, poultry, fish, etc. Such display cases typically have a closed front (e.g. with rear doors or openings for back-side access to the food products within the temperature controlled space by service personnel at a customer's request). It is also known to provide self-service type refrigerated cases that typically have an open-front to permit convenient front-side access directly by customers and that uses a flow of chilled air that is discharged across the open front of the case to help maintain a desired temperature within the temperature-controlled space. However, such full-service and self-service type cases do not generally provide a merchant (e.g. supermarket, food-retailer, etc.) with the desired flexibility or versatility of converting a case between a full-service mode and a self-service mode of operation.